Forum will keep up push for single-payer insurance

PORTSMOUTH — A national group with local ties is fighting the new health care law, saying it entrenches private industry and won't solve the national health care crisis.

Jennifer Feals

PORTSMOUTH — A national group with local ties is fighting the new health care law, saying it entrenches private industry and won't solve the national health care crisis.

Instead, Physicians for a National Health Program supports a single-payer national system it says would save $400 billion annually — enough to cover the nation's 46 million uninsured.

On June 10, Portsmouth Primary Care Associates presents "Everybody In, Nobody Out, One Group, One Plan, One Rate," a public forum on health care reform discussing PNHP's solution that it says will work for Americans, large companies and small businesses. The event will include discussion with Dr. Oliver Fein, PNHP president and professor of medicine and public health at Weill Medical College at Cornell University.

PNHP is a national nonprofit organization of more than 17,000 physicians who support single-payer national health insurance.

"Our objective is for every American citizen to have full coverage from birth to death, with comprehensive, affordable, portable, full-choice coverage with your doctor and hospital," said Dr. Thomas Clairmont, a Portsmouth physician and the PNHP local chapter leader. "We replace the thousands of insurance plans with a myriad of options with an expanded and improved Medicare for All plan, which is easy to access and understand."

Harvard University researchers have found more than 75 percent of those bankrupted for medical reasons had health insurance when they became sick, Clairmont said. In addition, he has talked with more than 60 local business representatives "overwhelmed" with the costs of private insurance today.

"Increases of 22, 33, 40, and even 64 percent for this year is what they told me. Obviously, this is not sustainable," he said. "My initial insurance quote was a 22-percent increase to $19,500 for a family of four with a $5,000 deductible and a 20-percent co-payment on the next $25,000 of expenses."

PNHP supports the H.R. 676, the federal Medicare for All bill that eliminates preexisting conditions, co-payments and deductibles, Clairmont said. Under the plan, for about 4.75 percent of their income, matched by their employer, employees would receive full coverage. Unemployed individuals would be publicly funded for the duration of their unemployment. Costs are reduced by global budgets for hospitals, negotiated fees for providers, bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals, and elimination of billing departments and administrative waste, Clairmont said.

"I think everybody should pay. If you're 20 years old and have a job, you should pay 5 percent income towards your health insurance," he said. "If you're going to get coverage, everybody has to participate. That's the only way it's going to work.

Fein's Portsmouth stop will be one of many public forums he is attending around the state with physicians, medical students and the public, touting the continued need for a single-payer system. Earlier in the day he will meet with members of the Portsmouth Rotary Club.

"The (new) legislation is a handout to the private health insurance industry, which makes billions in profits by denying claims, cancelling coverage and raising premiums," Fein said. "The only way to end health insurance industry abuse is through the creation of a national health insurance system, an expanded and improved Medicare for all."

The forums and discussions are a way to "stir up the pot" in the state, Clairmont said.

"People are politically active here. They meet candidates and talk to them," he said. "We want to arm the public with information, especially small businessmen."

Clairmont said he wants small businesses to become interested in the program, want to learn more, and push their representatives in Washington and candidates for office to come out with a plan. The change will have to start with small businesses, who need to demand it, he said.

"They have most of the employees in this country and they are the ones getting killed," he said. "I'm getting killed by $20,000 for health insurance. I don't think politicians are going to do this on their own. Unless you are on the front lines and a part of all this you don't understand why people need coverage today."

Go & Do

"Everybody In, Nobody Out, One Group, One Plan, One Rate"

What: Public forum on health care reform

When: 3 to 4:30 p.m., Thursday, June 10

Where: Frank Jones Center, Route 1 Bypass, Portsmouth

Who: Forum is open to the public and no registration is required. Attendance is free.

For more information: Call Thomas Clairmont, MD, at 436-5455

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